Ring Festival LA Media Contact:
Catherine Babcock
Public Relations Consultant
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P: (213) 972-7691
(Los Angeles, May 3, 2010) Wagner scholars from around the world are bringing their expertise to Los Angeles in June, so that Angelenos and Wagnerites arriving to see the Achim Freyer directed/designed production, conducted by LA Opera's Richard Seaver Music Director James Conlon, can further their understanding of the Ring and its influence on life and culture, in history and the present day. For anyone planning to see LA Opera's first performances of its first-ever full presentation of Richard Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion this June, there are a number of educational offerings available that will enrich the Ring experience.
Educational seminars and classes are being presented at museums and educational institutions throughout the region as a part of Ring Festival LA, the 10-week countywide arts, education and cultural festival inspired by LA Opera's first presentations of the Ring cycles. For those new to the Ring or seasoned fans of Wagner, there will be opportunities throughout Los Angeles to learn more about Wagner's epic.
LA Opera has partnered with three of Los Angeles' premier art institutions - the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, The Huntington Library, and the J. Paul Getty Museum - to develop a series of in-depth seminars to enhance the Ring experience and deepen one's knowledge of Wagner's Ring cycle. Entertaining and informative for both for the novice and Ring devotees, these seminars offer a unique focus special to each landmark location.
June 5, 2010, 10am-4pm
Mythic Legends and Wagnerian Fables
Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA)
Inspired by LACMA's exhibit Myths, Legends, and Cultural Renewal: Wagner's Sources, the seminar will delve into the heroic mythologies that Wagner drew from when developing his epic Der Ring des Nibelungen. Presenters for the day include James Conlon, LA Opera's Richard Seaver Music Director; Timothy O. Benson, LACMA Curator; John Deathridge, Wagner scholar; Mitchell Morris, UCLA Musicology Professor; and Desirée Mays, opera lecturer. Lunch and admission to the galleries is included in the fee. Open to 200 participants.
Reservations: $65, visit www.LAOperaRing.com/seminars or call (213) 972-8001
Bing Theater, LACMA, 5905 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90036
June 9, 2010, 10am-4pm
Wagner, His World and His Critics
The Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens
The Huntington Library is the repository of a first edition of George Bernard Shaw's famous criticism: The Perfect Wagnerite, on display in the Library. Featuring LA Opera's Richard Seaver Music Director James Conlon; Wagner scholar John Deathridge; UCLA Musicology Professor Mitchell Morris; and opera lecturer Desirèe Mays, the seminar will explore how Wagner's contemporary critics viewed his work and the world. The seminar day includes a musical performance, lunch and admission to the galleries and gardens. Open to 190 participants.
Reservations: $65, visit http://www.LAOperaRing.com/seminars or call (213) 972-8001
Friends Hall, The Huntington Library, 1151 Oxford Road, San Marino, CA 91108
June 19, 2010, 9:30am-4:30pm
Wagner's Mythology: Classical Roots and Inspiration
J. Paul Getty Museum, The Getty Villa
Richard Wagner culled from many sources-including ancient Greek drama-to create his masterwork Der Ring des Nibelungen, four operas based on German and Scandinavian folklore. This seminar features two talks exploring the classic sources that compelled Wagner to create his magnum opus. Specialist in German folklore, Peter Tokofsky, opens the program and is joined by Getty Associate Curator of Antiquities, Mary Louise Hart, and UCLA Musicology Professor, Mitchell Morris. After lunch, a special presentation by LA Opera's Richard Seaver Music Director James Conlon, tours of the Museum's antiquities collection and a musical performance conclude the day. Open to 200 participants.
Reservations: $95; $75 students, box lunch included, call the Getty at (310) 440-7300
The Getty Villa Auditorium, 17985 Pacific Coast Highway, Los Angeles 90272
In addition to these seminars there are other fascinating educational opportunities
being offered at educational institutions across the Southland.
June 1-2, 2010, 10 am-6 pm
Hammer Museum & University of California, Los Angeles
Wagner in LA: The Opera of the 21st Century?
A conference on the productivity, even urgency of Wagner for contemporary art and critical theory, with talks by some of the most innovative musicologists and philosophers in the world today including David J. Levin, Mary Ann Smart, John Deathridge, Clemens Risi, Alain Badiou, Slavoj Žižek, and Fredric Jameson.
Info: www.hammer.ucla.edu or (310) 443-7000
10899 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90024
June 6, 2010, 10 am-3 pm
American Jewish University
Art & Morality-Music of an Anti-Semite Dr. Michael Berenbaum moderates this seminar. Presenting scholars include Sander Gilman, Steve Lowenstein, and Marc Weiner. LA Opera's Richard Seaver Music Director James Conlon will share brief remarks and Gottfried Wagner will make an afternoon presentation.
Info: www.ajula.edu
RSVP: (310) 440-1279, seating is limited
Gindi Auditorium (AJU), 15600 Mulholland Dr., Bel-Air, CA, 90077
June 7, 14, & 21, 2010, 7:30-9:30 pm; June 12, 10 am-12 pm
University of Southern California College of Letters, Arts and Sciences
Wagner's Ring Cycle: Meanings, Sources, Influences
Enrich your understanding of the Ring with an in-depth study of the operas with USC faculty and other guest speakers. The four-part series includes a back-stage tour of LA Opera's Siegfried production on June 12.
Info: www.college.usc.edu or (213) 740-1349
Admission: $200 (open to the public)
Register: www.regonline.com/wagnerringcycle
USC Campus, Taper of Hall Humanities, 3501 Trousdale Pkwy., Los Angeles, CA 90089
June 11-12, 9 am-4 pm
Mount St. Mary's College
Myth and Imagery of the Ring
This seminar explores the significance of the "ring" in Wagnerian operas, compares it to Tolkien's Lord of the Rings, and focuses on LA Opera's Ring production. The lectures, video clips, handouts, and panel of scholars will stimulate small-group discussions inspired by the ancient Northern saga of warriors, dragons, and heroic encounters with evil.
Admission: $100 (April), $125 (May-June)
Register: www.msmc.la.edu/ringseminars
June 14-15, 9 am-4 pm
Architectural Seminar & Tour
This seminar, with on-site tours, studies three imaginative treasures of Los Angeles architecture: The Getty Center (Richard Meier), the Schindler Kings Road House (Rudolf Schindler), and Walt Disney Concert Hall (Frank O. Gehry). Visits to the three buildings are preceded by lectures and discussions of imaginative connections: classic Valhalla on the hill over Brentwood, the patio-beach primal nature style introduced by Schindler, and the Brothers Grimm fantasy of post-modern Disney Hall. Seminar is limited to 20 participants with priority for participants in the Ring seminar.
Admission $100 (April), $125 (May-June)
Register: www.msmc.la.edu/ringseminars
The Doheny Campus of Mount St. Mary's College, 10 Chester Pl., Los Angeles, CA 90007
Below find information on LA Opera's Production of Richard Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion at the Music Center, Performing Arts Center of Los Angeles County:
Cycle 1: Das Rheingold (5/29); Die Walküre (5/30); Siegfried (6/3); Götterdämmerung (6/6)
Cycle 2: Das Rheingold (6/8); Die Walküre (6/10); Siegfried (6/13); Götterdämmerung (6/16)
Cycle 3: Das Rheingold (6/18); Die Walküre (6/20); Siegfried (6/23); Götterdämmerung (6/26)
(Performance times vary, visit www.LAOperaRing.com).
LA Opera presents the first complete Ring ever seen in Los Angeles. The cast includes: soprano Linda Watson as Brünnhilde, with tenor John Treleaven as Siegfried, bass Vitalij Kowaljow as Wotan, baritone Richard Paul Fink as Alberich, tenor Plácido Domingo as Siegmund, mezzo-soprano Michelle DeYoung as Sieglinde, mezzo-soprano Jill Grove as Erda and tenor Graham Clark as Mime. Ms. DeYoung will also perform Fricka in Das Rheingold and Waltraute in Götterdämmerung, and the cast also features bass Eric Halfvarson as Fafner, Hunding and Hagen; tenor Arnold Bezuyen as Loge; mezzo-soprano Ekaterina Semenchuk as Fricka in Die Walküre; bass-baritone Alan Held as Gunther; and soprano Jennifer Wilson as Gutrune. James Conlon, LA Opera's Richard Seaver Music Director, conducts a production staged by legendary theater artist Achim Freyer.
Tickets: Single Tickets for the individual operas range from $50-$275 and can be purchased online at www.LAOperaRing.com, by calling (213) 972-8001, or at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion Box Office, Music Center of Los Angeles County, 135 N. Grand Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90012.
In addition to the seminars and Ring performances, during final month of Ring Festival LA, visitors and Angelenos alike can enjoy more than 60 events including museum exhibitions, a planetarium show, walking tours and musical performances. For more information visit www.RingFestivalLA.com
For information on these and many other upcoming events, please visit www.RingFestivalLA.com
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